2 war crimes accused held in Cox’s Bazar

Police arrested two persons accused in a war crimes case in Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar this afternoon.

The arrestees -- Md Rashid, 83, and Salamat Ullah Khan, 80, -- were respectively general secretary and president of Maheshkhali Thana Peace Committee during the 1971 Liberation War, reports our Cox’s Bazar correspondent.

Earlier in the day, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued the arrest warrant in response to a prayer by the prosecution.

They were picked up from their residences in the upazila, said Bakhtiar Uddin Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Police Station.

The investigation agency began the probe into the allegations of crimes against humanity against the arrestees on May 12, 2014.

Prosecutor Tapas Kanti Baul told The Daily Star that the investigation officer Nurul Islam has got primary evidence of mass killings and genocide against Rashid and Salamat.

Salamat is the founder president of Cox’s Bazaar unit of BNP, while Rashid founder vice-president of the committee.